Question about VHF (marine) radios

I was thinking of painting mine safety yellow or that green color they paint fire engines in Europe.

Most "submersible" VHF's carry a JIS-7/IPX-7 rating.  That means it is submersible to 1 meter for 30 minutes.  That's not very much, nor does it take much to get that rating.  What do you think would happen to a VHF sitting in a drink holder full of water all day?  Chances are, it's going to leak.  DAMHIK.  Don't let it sit in standing water in your cockpit.

I tether mine to the zipper of the pocket of my PFD that it goes in, using the tether that came with the unit.

I'm using an ICOM M72 these days, bought mostly for 6W transmit power and max battery life.  But it does carry an IPX-8 rating (30 minutes at 1.5m).  I don't put much weight on the ratings.

It's good to inspect your seals regularly.  And it doesn't hurt to hit them up with o-ring grease every now and then.  A bit of dielectric grease on the terminals for good measure.

-Allen

replaced a L.O.B.< Lost OverBoard> Uniden Atlantis 250 that is now residing just about 40M N of the outermost and northernmost buoy in front of the Hoodsport Hatchery. it too was a "slipped out of the hands" victim.

bought 2 of the plastic- baggy- with -an- antenna slot waterproof cases, and a couple small crab pot buoys. put the radio in there, with the buoy attached to the side  of the case with a lanyard and they float nicely, and still stay extremely dry.

like polepole, i dont count too heavily on the immersion ratings.. lost my very 1st VHF last year when it got dunked several times during huli's at pacific city. it leaked so badly that it stopped working within 30 minutes after only about 30 minutes of being wet.

[ yes, Wali, i lose expensive things too]

Yep, what they said.

Submersible, not just waterproof is key, and even then submersible's MUST be rinsed in fresh water after a dunking in the salt or they will corrode (DAMHIK¹) Actually, the cheap submersibles work great as long as you take care of them (rinse after use. repeat). You should be able to find one for less than $100 online, just make sure it says "submersible" somewhere on the package.

 Floating is also a very good feature to have as well as fish don't have hands and have a hard time using the "push to talk" submersed vhf's that go overboard¹. You could attach a floaty to your radio, but its kind of cumbersome.

I suspect that many submersible handhelds will be dropping in price in the near future as DSC and DSC/GPS is implemented, but I would not hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

 Those features, however, seem well worth having. I'm currently waiting on a handheld floating vhf/dsc/gps (that was supposed to be next day'd to me last Thursday. )  It sells for about $200 and I've heard it as low as $160. I'll post a report when it gets here.









¹(Dont Ask Me How I Know )

Quote:

"I'll post a report when it gets here."


Please do!   

I just realized the cheap "on sale" Cobra MR HH125 I got for yak fishin' requires a plastic baggy case like WR described. What was wrong with me buying that thing?  Oh yeah, now I remember...it was small and lightweight, and on sale for under $50. I thought a compact unit would be handier. I usually know better than to buy the cheaper stuff. Most cheap stuff doesn't last or hold up to continued heavy use. The better quality stuff is usually worth the price in the long run.

Might not have to get it if my Cobra unit suffers a delayed reaction from dropping it on the side of my yak last Tue.  I had just landed on the beach when I fumbled it. It fell into my boat, staying dry, but the battery compartment lid flew off, along with the batteries (rechargeable), and they went into a couple of inches of Puget Sound. I'm sure they shorted out and I didn't try to reload them. I rinsed and dried them off, and later, they accepted a recharge. I'm going to keep inspecting them, and carry that thing in a "plastic baggy case" from now on.

Here where I usually fish, and I usually fish alone, I don't need to have it "on" when I'm fishing anyway. I might just keep it in my dry bag with my flares for emergencies so that I can call for help. My whistle and air horn are always close at hand. If anyone wants to hail me, they can shout or use a power megaphone!

I still have my Uniden Atlantis 250, and I'm getting a "plastic baggy case" for that, too!

 

I found this site to be very informative.

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/dsc/player.html

Safe Boating.

SD

I have a waterproof floating uniden that was about $150.

I keep it in the electronic pocket on my kokatat pfd, it's perfect size. I run the lanyard on the vhf through the D-ring in the e-pocket and slide the vhf through the loop.

stays attached to the pfd, but can still pull it out and use without detaching. Also, if for some reason I got separated from my boat, I would still have the radio on me.

Just make sure to rinse with fresh water after use.